


How Did It Even Get This Far...

by Rusted_Crutches



Category: Bottled Up (Webcomic)
Genre: (it's exactly what you think it is), Alternate title; Toxink! The sitcom!, Comedy, Gen, Humor, I promise I don't think Tetrox is this stupid I just think it's funny gfhdjsk, Listen to Yakety Sax full volume on repeat for full effect, Pranks, minor crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21569293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rusted_Crutches/pseuds/Rusted_Crutches
Summary: Tetrox is curious how the rest of BUP Toxink met each other, but Arnick is not so keen on retelling the story. When she, of course, refuses to drop it and continues to pester him, he pulls a little prank to get her off his back. Shenanigans ensue.A fic I wrote inspired by a suggestion by a mutual on tumblr!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	How Did It Even Get This Far...

**Author's Note:**

> So, I got this whole thing started right after I got the ask this is based on, and worked on it for a few days before hitting a roadblock and moving on to work on a larger project. I forgot about it until the other night when I scrolled through my docs and re-read it and decided to finish it up nice and quick. Technically it only took me a week or less to write (based off the doc timeline), so I'm not gonna feel bad for it taking over a month to get out. 
> 
> I, for one, laughed my ass off reading part of this, and I hope you all enjoy it the same. This is probably my last fic of this year, and what better way to go out, right?
> 
> (Rated Teen and Up for minor swearing and SINGULAR suggestive joke)
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion Pyro!

“Say, Nicky, how did you and the girls meet,” Tetrox asks one day after a team meeting as everyone is packing up.

Belladonna watches from the side with Cyanthia next to her, already finished with her things and ready to leave at any moment. At Tetrox's question, she watches as Arnick fumbles with a stack of papers he was holding, the documents slipping from his grasp and causing half of them to float to the ground slowly. He lets out a frustrated sigh and kneels to recollect his things, acting as if he didn’t hear her.

She looks over to Tetrox. She doesn’t get the hint. Belladonna shakes her head sympathetically.

“I _said—_ ”

 _“It’s a very long and complicated story that I do not have nearly enough time to tell_ ,” he replies back quickly, trying to dismiss her. 

Tetrox folds her arms “Arnick, we live in the same apartment.”

“Well, It is a story I would _like_ to tell — preferably — **never**.” He grumbles.

He gathers all the scattered papers and shoves them messily in his bag and throws it over his shoulder before he begins walking away.

“Aw c’mon,” Tetrox pouts, following him “Y’all never talk about what it was like before I joined, I'm curious!”

He stops in his tracks, nearly getting knocked to the ground as Tetrox runs into him. He remains upright but she isn’t so lucky, losing balance and falling backward. She lets out an ‘ _oof_ ’ as she hits the ground.

“Then how about _this_ .” he says not bothering to turn around “It’s a personal story, _and it isn’t any of your business._ ” 

Before she can respond, he quickly walks away not acknowledging her further. Tetrox huffs as she stands, dusting off her pants. Belladonna gets up from her seat and walks up beside her, and delivers her a firm smack (which was her being _gentle_ ) on the back, nearly causing her to fall forward. Tetrox lets out a yelp of surprise before standing upright.

“You’re gonna have to forgive him. He’s not one to relive the past,” Belladonna says. "Don't take it personally."

Tetrox folds her arms and pouts dramatically “I don’t see why it’s such a big deal.” she huffs.

Belladonna rubs her chin in thought and reminisces about the past, sighing nostalgically. Oh, is that a story she would love to tell. She thinks a moment longer, closing her eyes. Then again, _she_ was kind of an outsider that wandered into _Arnick_ and _Cy's_ story — _mainly_ Arnick's. It'd probably be better is she heard it from him. Whenever he managed to get the stick out his ass, of course. She looks back to Tetrox with a sympathetic smile.

“Well, it’s a pretty loaded story" she begins "a good one too... A lotta old baggage involved, though." She says trying to sound serious but kind "I’m not really surprised.”

“Aw, but I don’t care about any of that stuff,” Tetrox insists.

Belladonna shrugs and shakes her head “Well, he does — and as someone who was there for most of it... yeah it’s pretty dumb," she shrugs "but if that's how he feels, then there isn't anything to do.”

Tetrox begins to protests further but Belladonna simply puts a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. She looks her in the eye as she speaks.

“Seriously. He doesn’t want to talk about it, and no amount of begging in the world will annoy him enough to change his mind." She warns"Just save your breath.”

Tetrox deflates, disappointed, but agrees with a nod of her head. They then go their separate ways for the night and wish each other well. On her walk home, Belladonna feels a sneaking suspicion that that conversation wasn’t going to be the end of it. Well, at least she tried.

* * *

It’s a few days later when Arnick burst through the door of Belladonna’s family’s flower shop. Belladonna looks to Arnick in surprise. She looks over at the clock briefly then back to him. t’s fairly early in the morning, and he looks disheveled and unkempt like he came over here in a hurry. His clothes are all wrinkled, somewhat crooked, and his vest is missing entirely. It’s uncertain whether he hadn’t combed his hair that morning or was in disarray from what Belladonna would assume resulted from falling into a bush — if the leaves in his hair were anything to go by.

“Woah, Arnick, what’s up with you?” Belladonna asks “You look terrible.”

Arnick stomps up to the counter without saying a word. He is absolutely fuming, sweat clearly visible on his forehead. He slams his hands on the counter angrily, almost getting up in her face.

“Can you _kindly_ tell Tetrox she is _out of her damned mind?!_ ” he exclaims, sounded a bit winded.

Belladonna sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. She fights a yawn. It was too early for this shit.

“ _What is it this time?_ ” she says annoyed. “Did she put hot dogs in the coffee pot water again?” she swears she’s dealing with children sometimes. No, no… _children_ would probably be better behaved.

“No, worse!” Arnick exacerbates “I had to _physically_ wrestle with Tetrox to get out of my own damn apartment!”

Belladonna squints at him. Did she hear that right? “I’m sorry,” she pauses for a moment, connecting the dots in her head, re-examining his disheveled state. “You had to _what_?”

“Do you know how difficult it is to shove past an earth glass blocking the doorway?” Arnick continues, not bothering to elaborate on his definition of ‘wrestling’ “That woman is built like a god damned brick wall!”

“OH,” Belladonna exclaims as it clicks in her head “You mean _literally_ —” she smacks her own forehead. She _really_ needed a coffee before she got herself in trouble

“What—?” he looks at her with a confused expression “ _Yes!_ What the hell did you think I was on about?!”

Belladonna gently puts both of her hands on his shoulder “Arnick, Arnick. It’s _9 A.M_ . I am _very_ tired.”

“You’re not taking this seriously!” he sputters frustrated “I had to _jump from_ my second-story apartment window!”

She looks back up to his hair, noticing the leaves and twigs littered throughout “Well, that explains the leaves in your hair...”

Arnick glares at her heatedly, unamused as she picks a stick from his head. He smacks her hand away rather violent, grumbling. folds his arms indignantly and makes an obvious noise of displeasure.

She waves her hand apologetically “Sorry, sorry — what’s all this about?” she asks, clearing her throat and trying to sound serious.

Arnick puts his head in his hand in exacerbation, resting his elbow on the counter. “Christ — Ever since yesterday when she asked how we all met, she’s been bugging non-stop! No matter how _many_ times I tell her to drop it, she keeps on _insisting_. And now it’s escalated to this! I couldn’t leave my room — and barley my apartment.”

Belladonna huffs passively. She rubs her chin and closes her eyes thought “Yeah, she’s quite the nosey one isn’t she?” she comments. “Wait, why are you _here_ ,” belladonna says opening her eyes “If you’re trying to avoid her, isn’t this the second place she’ll look?”

“I haven’t come to hide, I came in hopes you could tell her to _back off_ ,’’ Arnick scoffs as if it were obvious.

She shakes her head and places a hand on his shoulder. “Bud, if she isn’t listening to you, she’ll ignore me just the same. You’re on your own pal.” She shrugs nonchalantly.

Arnick gapes his mouth “I’m _terrified_ here, you can’t even _try_ —”

“I already _did,_ ” she interrupts “I held her back as you were heading home and told her to leave you alone. Clearly, it didn’t help.” She folds her arms “And you’re just being dramatic, she can’t be that bad.”

“ _Need I remind you I jumped out of a_ **_window?!?!_ **”

She rolls her eyes “Like I said — _dramatic_.”

Arnick lets out a noise of frustration “You know what, I honestly don’t know why I bothered coming here,” he says disgruntled “I’ll just deal with this _myself_.”

“Good on ya, mate,” she calls after him as he practically stomps away, hands cupped over her mouth “Just don’t jump out a window next time! Can’t bottle with a co-captain down!”

The bell above the door jingles as it slams behind him.

* * *

Next team meeting Belladonna is sitting in the corner on her phone when Tetrox suddenly storms in. She quickly throws her supply bag to the floor and sprints over to where she sits, looking manic. There’s a mad look in her eye as she approaches, hands in fists. Belladonna doesn’t have time to say hello or ask what's wrong before she grabs her by the shoulders and stares her dead in the eye, crazily.

“Belladonna, I need you to look me in the eye and tell me Nicky did _not_ go to clown college,” she says sternly.

Belladonna looks at her a moment, rightfully confused. Unsure how to respond, her attention is suddenly called to Arnick entering the room. He has a coffee in hand and duffle bag his shoulder, looking down at his phone as he walks. He’s looking quite a bit calmer and more put together than yesterday. She looks back to Tetrox and returns eye contact, unflinching.

“Uh, yeah,” She begins, unsure what was going on, but interested to see where this will go “He doesn’t like to talk about it since he never really graduated but sure.” Out of the corner of her vision, she can see Cyanthia look at her just as confused.

Tetrox shouts out a loud, frustrated noise into the hair. She’s pulling at her hair and her eyes are wild, looking absolutely pissed. When Arnick approaches them and comes to stand beside her, she glares at him with all her might, for whatever reason displeased.

“So, what's this all about,” Belladonna asks, trying to remain casual.

Arnick takes a quick sip of his drink before speaking “Oh, I decided to go ahead and tell Tetrox how we all met — well, trying to. She won’t let me get past the part where I went to—”

“No. You didn’t! You’re _bullshiting_ me,” Tetrox yells, _particularly_ annoyed.

Belladonna looks to Arnick, and he gives a sign with his hand she assumes is some sort of signal. _Ohh_ , now Belladonna gets it. Playing this game, are we?

She turns back to Tetrox “Nope, can confirm,” she nods.

Tetrox looks at Belladonna with utter disbelief “it’s not _real_ ! none of this is real!” she shouts “You’re both _lying_ to me. I _refuse_ to believe any of this!” she waves her arms about comedically.

Arnick hides a smirk behind his cup of coffee and pretends to look at his phone. How he wasn’t cracking up at this point was beyond Belladonna. She sighs and shakes her head in (partially) faux sympathy.

“Well, sorry to disappoint,” she says to Tetrox “Arnick is just your classic clown school dropout. Cy and I even met him while he was attending.” she looks over to Cyanthia and winks, causing to jerk her head.

Tetrox is practically seething “ _Oh_ , and I suppose _you’re_ wanna be clowns too?” she squints at them all shifty-eyed “y’all that whole damned _circus_?”

Belladonna brushes it off “Me? Psh, no. I was there with my parents checking the place out. My Dad was going through this _really_ weird phase. I think Cy was looking for someone for a party for something and thought she could get someone there for cheap.”

Tetrox looks to Cyanthia with an absolute horrified look on her face. A beat passes with Cyanthia looking between Arnick and Belladonna in a mixture of confusion and irritation. Then Cyanthia shrugs and rolls her eyes with an irritated sigh.

“It was my _parents'_ idea. They thought it would ‘liven up’ the charity ball and convince patrons to donate.”

Tetrox’s jaw drops “What— no! This isn’t real! None of this is real!”

Arnick sighs “ I _tried_ to keep it from you Tetrox. Not _everyone_ can accept my past.”

“I ain’t accepting it because it isn’t real!”

They begin bickering back and forth, and Belladonna decides it’s going too far. She puts her fingers to her lips and whistles loudly. They both look to her immediately, freezing midsentence.

“Both of you quit it,” she says sternly as she folds her arms. “You both can discuss this later, right now we have training to do. I don’t wanna hear another word of this for the rest of practice, got it?”

“But—!” Tetrox tries to protest.

“No buts. Get your stuff together and get this _over_ with.”

Tetrox grumbles to herself and joins the others as they set up their equipment, halfheartedly messing about with her own. Things soon get a move on, but everyone — well, besides Arnick — seem to have difficulty focusing. Belladonna had some questions, she was certain Cyanthia was still confused, and Tetrox wouldn’t quit giving Arnick the _stinkeye_ throughout warmups.

It was incredibly distracting.

* * *

The next week or so went on as such;

A few days later everyone’s hanging out after another meeting, enjoying each other’s company. Belladonna sits scrolling through her phone with Cyanthia sitting next to her, book in hand. Arnick is still organizing his bag (which Tetrox had 'tripped' over earlier) so she didn’t really pay him any mind. Meanwhile, Tetrox was off getting lunch, and likely ‘terrorizing’, as Arnick put it, local residents.

After an hour or so of scrolling through her phone aimlessly, Belladonna turns it off to give her eyes some rest. She rubs at the furiously, being warned by Cyanthia not to do so. As she’s about to stand and stretch, Belladonna looks up to see Tetrox entering the room. She greets them all with a happy smile.

"Ah, Tetrox, welcome back." Arnick greats her, sounding surprisingly kind.

Belladonna raises a brow, and Tetrox takes notice as well. She stops in her tracks and eyes him suspiciously. She squints, mouth forming into a thin line. She looks back to Belladonna and Cy for a few moments, but they just give her confused looks.

Tetrox looks back to Arnick and speaks "What's up with you?" She asks incredulously.

"Oh, it's just that I have something to show you," he says, digging through his bag "your _stunt_ earlier actually dislodged some old things of mine I hadn't realized I was carrying."

Tetrox rolls her eyes disinterested "Unless you’re hiddin’ some cash in there, I ain't interested."

"No — look closely." Arnick finally finds what he's looking for, retrieving it from within the duffle bag. 

Within his hands, he holds three ping pong balls, fluorescent orange in color. He stands, holding his arms out in front of him. Then, surprising almost everyone, he begins throwing the balls in the air — and proceeds to _juggle_.

Belladonna sighs, already knowing what's coming. Beside her, Cyanthia facepalms with her book, and slides down in her seat dramatically, fed up with it all. She was probably about as done with their nonsense as Belladonna.

"Woah," Tetrox says in mild amazement, her face lighting up "Where did you learn to juggle?" She asks.

Belladonna facepalms " _Tetrox_ , do you _always_ walk into shit like a toddler about to bang their head into a doorknob?"

Tetrox looks to her confused. Arnick grins ever so slightly, still juggling. Well, _here we go again_. Belladonna can feel Cyanthia slouch down further.

"Well, you see Tetrox," he begins.

She looks back to him, the wheels in her head beginning to turn. She looks at him curiously, a brow raised. Suddenly it clicks, and Tetrox's face is immediately filled with comedic levels of anger.

"NO!" she yells angrily, realizing what she had walked straight into.

Arnick continues, struggling to hold back laughter "I learned it— "

"DON'T YOU SAY IT!"

"At—"

"ARNICK, I SWEAR TO GOD!"

" _Clown College."_

"Oh, I am going to _STRANGLE_ you!"

They both start squabbling back and forth, but Belladonna doesn't care to listen in any further. She pops in one of her earbuds and looks for some music. As she does so, she offers the other to Cyanthia, who looks hesitant at first, but quickly grabs it and pops it in when the yelling between the other two gets louder. She plugs her other ear with her finger.

Belladonna puts on a random playlist and turns it up just below max, watching as Arnick and Tetrox continue to bicker. She sighs annoyed. She hopes Arnick will give it a rest soon. She's not sure how much more of Tetrox's rage she can take.

* * *

Belladonna is sorting bouquets at her parent's flower shop when Arnick appears again, just as he had a few days before. It had been nearly a week since she had seen either him or Tetrox, but she was sure he was still keeping up his ridiculous game. He approaches the counter and greets her.

He opens his mouth to speak, but she puts her hand up to silence him “I _know_ why you’re here,” she says disgruntled “Just spill it already.”

Arnick leans on the counter and gives it to her straight “Well, we have officially gotten to the point where I can’t tell who is messing with whom anymore.” he says.

Belladonna raises a brow, curious, but doesn’t stop her work, opting to multitask. “How so?” she asks.

Arnick adjusts his coat “Either Tetrox is incredibly gullible,” he begins “Or I'm one hell of a conman. As I’ve _somehow_ managed to convince her, that I did indeed, attended Clown school at one point in time. ”

Belladonna puts down her clippers in shock and just stares at him. “You’re shitting me,” she says doubtfully. Tetrox isn’t a genius but she’s not an idiot either. There’s _no_ way. “She _can’t_ — How— _How_ did you convince her?”

Arnick thinks for a moment, humming to himself “I think the combination of my juggling bit and knowing how to ride a unicycle caught her off guard, but what _really_ did it in was—”

“Okay, _now_ you’re messing with _me_ ,” Belladonna says, rolling her eyes, not falling for his shtick for even a second. “...and, in all seriousness, where _did_ you learn to juggle?”

He looks to her almost offended “What—? Clown school. Haven’t you been paying attention?” he scoffs “Anyway, I pulled this whole hurt feelings bit, and if the look on her face is genuine — dare I say I stand quite a good chance at winning an Oscar this year.”

Belladonna gives a weak snort “Yeah, maybe you should have gone to drama school instead.” She picks up her clippers again and continues. “Now shoo, I have work to do.”

As much as she’d love a friend to hang out with during her shift, she wasn’t in the mood for Tetrox to come by looking for him. She swears those two are conjoined at the hip. They’d follow each other into hell and be too busy arguing about something to even notice.

He opens his mouth to speak once more, but he’s interrupted by the loud ringing of the doorbell hanging above the front entrance. They both look up to see Cyanthia and Tetrox walking into the shop. Belladonna greets them with a wave. They approach the counter, Tetrox going to stand beside Arnick, while Cyanthia joins Belladonna.

“Speak of the devil…” Arnick says as they approach.

“Hey you two,” Tetrox greets “whatcha doin’?”

Belladonna smiles “Oh, we were just talking about Arnick’s college days. Back when we first met.”

“Oh, right, y’know you _still_ haven’t told me the full story on that...” Tetrox says, turning to Arnick.

“Full offense, but I’ve tried _several_ times.” he deadpans. “You’re the one who kept throwing the hissy fit.”

Tetrox rolls her eyes “Well, _I’m sorry_ , Mr clown man,” she says somewhat sarcastically “I didn’t know clown college was a _thing_ outside movies and jokes until a couple of days ago.“

Cyanthia gives her a weird look “You didn’t know about clown school?”

Tetrox sticks out her tongue at her, earning a halfhearted mean look from the ice queen herself. Belladonna holds back a laugh. Cyanthia turns her head away, insulted.

“Well, there’s actually a good reason for that,” Arnick interjects.

Tetrox looks back to him “Huh, what do you mean?”

“Because it doesn’t,” he says nonchalantly “I’ve just been fucking with you this entire time.”

The room falls silent, and they all stare at him shocked. Belladonna didn’t expect him to drop the ball out of nowhere. So looks over to Tetrox stealthily.

She can almost _see_ a loading bar above her head. After a long moment, Tetrox blinks, looking between her teammates one by one. Her small smile doesn’t fade, looking offset compared to her bludging, unblinking eyes. She makes direct eye contact with Arnick.

“The entire time?” Tetrox asks, voice neutral.

Arnick nods “The entire time.” 

“OH GOD DAMN IT!” She yells frustrated, breaking out in anger “ I KNEW IT YOU SON OF A BITCH— YOU KNOW WHAT, COME HERE!”

“Woah—!” Arnick shouts in surprise.

Suddenly, she lunges for Arnick, but he quickly avoids and runs around behind the counter with Belladonna — who proceeds to kick him out on the other side. The several following minutes involve Tetrox chasing Arnick around the very small shop, enraged. Belladonna can almost hear the zany music playing in her head.

“ _I’M GONNA STRANGLE YOU_!” Tetrox yells after him, still in hot pursuit as Arnick cleverly avoids obstacles with his mist form.

“It was a _joke_ —!” Arnick yells back.

“YOU HAD TEARS IN YOUR EYES YOU ASSHOLE!” 

Tetrox lunges for him in between some racks of flowers in attempts to grab him. However, she only barely grazes his coat as he quickly zips away, and narrowly avoids knocking down dozens of arrangements of flowers. Belladonna almost has a heart attack right then and there. This has _officially_ gotten too far.

“Hey, not in my parent's shop!” Belladonna yells "Arnick, you better get your cigarette smelling mist and get away from my flowers — and take Tetrox with you before she destroys something!"

"Excuse me,” Arnick says offended “I'm trying not to get decked by a madwoman, do you mind?!"

“As a matter of fact I do!” she snaps back “Now do it somewhere else — both of you, get!”

Arnick quickly scrambles out of the shop, trying to slam the door on Tetrox before she can get to him, but she makes it just in time. Belladonna watches as they both trip and stumble through the door, both still arguing. In no time at all, they disappear down the street out from view.

Belladonna sighs and puts her head in her hand, whipping sweat from her brow. Ugh… she swears they exist solely to raise her blood pressure. She can’t believe them sometimes!

“Those two made me lose five years off my life,” she sighs, looking over to the many flower racks. “But, at least the flowers are okay—”

_FOOMP_

The two racks Tetrox had so narrowly avoided earlier begin to fall just as she speaks, tumbling into several others and knocking them over, creating a domino effect. She watches them all topple over loudly making awful crashing sounds, one by one, mouth agape. When the last fall, all she can do is put her head in her hands.

“God damn it, my parents are gonna kill me!” she muffles through her hands.

Cyanthia gives her an awkward, reassuring pat on the back.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you laughed at least once. Kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> [Follow me on tumblr if you want](rusted-crutches.tumblr.com)


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